Back in January 2004, we published an article about LURD leader Sekou
Damateh Conneh and a few supporters trying to remove LNTG Chairman Gyude
Bryant from power. The main reason was that they “felt left-out”
in a government where they control the Ministries of Justice, Finance
and the Office of Speaker. The rebel movement was divided in the attempt,
with the line clearly drawn between those who followed Aisha and those
behind Sekou, the couple at the head of LURD. The attempt died because
many in LURD thought that it was not a realistic goal to even consider.

Now, LURD is up in arms again, this time calling for the removal of
one of their ministers from the government. A group of LURD “leaders”,
mostly followers of Aisha Conneh, asked Bryant to “dismiss”
Lusenee Kamara, the Minister of Finance and to replace him with Soko
Sako, the Director General of the Cabinet. They claim that Minister
Kamara does not protect their “interests”, that he pays
more attention to others than to LURD members. The issue has been brewing
for months. In January 2004, a prominent member of LURD said that they
would remove Kamara, “no matter what,” adding that they
could force him to resign. The various means of pressure having failed,
LURD finally issue a statement, last week, giving Chairman Bryant 24
Hours to fire Kamara “or else.” The 24 hours expired and
LURD decided on Friday evening to “stop cooperation with the government.”
Bryant issued a statement on Sunday evening saying that he could not
dismiss a government official simply to please a group of people. His
position was backed by ECOWAS who argued in a letter to LNTG Chairman
that allowing factions to recall their nominees from government without
apparent reasons could set a precedent and open a “Pandora box”
with dire consequences for the peace process. Bryant wrote to LURD leaders
and conveyed the content of the message he received from ECOWAS.

A member of the group seeking the removal Kamara told us in a phone
conversation that nothing in the CPA forbids them from recalling one
of their nominees in the government. Says the member who spoke on the
condition of anonymity: “We appointed the man, he represents our
movement and if he no longer follows our policy direction, we have the
right to recall him.” Asked what would happen if other factions
were to embark on the same scheme because they fell out with of their
nominees, he said, “we cannot speculate on that. We want this
man removed and we are going to get him out of the government.”
The person could not give us any specific reason to why some LURD members
wanted to get the Minister fired.

On Monday, May 17, it was well apparent that Bryant was standing firm
in his decision not to remove the Minister of Finance. LURD itself was
further divided on the issue. Mr. Lavela Suppuwood, Minister of Labor,
Dr. Vamba Kaneh, Minister of Transport and others as well as a group
of fighters added their voices to that of LURD Sekou Damateh for condemning
the move. They added that they have no intention of being part of any
actions that could derail the fragile peace process. On the other end,
Speaker George Dweh and C. Farley, Director of GSA are leading the recall
movement.

A group of LURD members are said to have left Monrovia for consultations
in Conakry on Monday morning. With Conneh attending a conference in
London, it is not sure whom they were going to consult in Guinea. It
remains to be seen if President Conteh would get involved in such internal
quarrels as the replacement of a minister. Meanwhile, life goes on as
normal in Monrovia and the “non-cooperation” of LURD seems
to have very little effect on the government. Fighters are said to continue
to disarm and there has been no indication that LURD leaders demanding
the dismissal of the Ministry have tried to influence the disarmament
process.

According to an advisor to Chairman Bryant who prefers to remain unnamed,
“what is at stake is the whole principle of government of inclusion.
Once a Minister is confirmed in his or her job, she ceases to be function
as member of a faction. This is a unitary government and it is rather
unfortunate that some people think they can run a government inside
of the government. ” If the Minister remains in his post, and
this is very likely, the attempt would deal a serious blow to the shaky
cohesion of LURD leadership as well as other attempts by factions to
control the government. Says the advisor, “after all, maybe this
crisis was what we needed, it will put everyone in their place. This
is not child play and we cannot allow personal interests to hold the
nation hostage. We have gone through that many a times and people need
to learn to respect institutions.’